Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Date of Publication: 1847
Literary Period: Victorian
Genre: Coming of age novel
Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting.
The setting is a series of houses in Victorian England. Each house is important because it represents a portion of her life and something she overcomes and decides. Her leaving each house and moving on signifies her decision to begin another part of her life in this coming of age story.
Themes (These statements should be complete sentences and completely developed ideas)
CLASS: Jane is taught as a child that poverty and immorality are one and the same, yet as she matures, she realizes that rather than class defining a person’s character, the person’s intellect and kindness defines them. Often in Jane Eyre, the higher the class, the lower the character. GENDER: In her novel, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte reveals that the gender relationship is unfairly weighted in favor of males through Rochester’s relationships, treatment of women, and the lack of repercussions he faced as a result of them.
RELIGION: Bronte characterizes Jane’s identity quest in the context of seeking religious maturity. Supernatural elements and religious allusions help her wrangle with the balance and conflict between mysticism and earthly pleasures, as Bronte ultimately concludes that both pursuit of moderate earthly pleasure and total religious surrender can lead to spiritual contentment.
Plot Summary (Please do not copy and paste. Simply list the high points of the novel) - Consider creating a visual flow chart or graph and posting it here. (Beginning, Middle, End)
We start at Gateshead, the Reed's home
Jane is abused by her cousins and her aunt
She is locked in the Red room and has a mysterious encounter with ghostlike feelings and her aunt won't let her out
They think she's gonna die for a little while
They arrange for her to be sent to Lowood
Lowood Experience
She meets Helen, the Christ figure character who embodies Jane's morals
She meets Mrs Temple, and witnesses Brocklehurts' hypocrisy in making them remain modest and unfed while his family is covered in glitters and elaborate hairstyles.
The majority of the school gets sick from lack of nourishment and clothing
Helen gets sick and dies with Jane in her crib and Jane wakes up next to a dead Helen
The school goes under remission following the horrible illness and the realization that these children are being malnourished.
The school becomes a good place, Jane becomes a teacher herself until she decides she needs to see more and puts out an ad to become a tutor
Thornfield
Jane gets accepted as a tutor for a girl, Adele. She goes to the mansion and finds it not overly extravagant so she feels comfortable in the understated wealth.
Mrs. Fairfax is a nice lady yay
Jane is haunted by Grace Poole's laughter and the mysterious happenings around the house
The crazy lady hidden in the attic set Mr. Rochester on fire and Jane saved him by flooding his bed with water
Rochester leaves for a bit before coming back with a bunch of wealthy ladies to make Jane jealous
He dresses up as a gypsy and tries to get Jane to reveal that she loves him
Jane goes back to Gateshead to visit Mrs. Reed who is dying, and Mrs. Reed tells her that she has a living uncle who actually likes her
Her cousins have not gone well
When she comes back, Rochester proposes
She says yes, the start to get married but they find out Rochester has a wife
Jane runs away from Thornfield because she will not live in sin
Moor House
Jane meets St. John and his very sweet sisters
They accept her into their home after a small conflict and St. John says he wants to keep her for his sisters as a pet
She stays with them for awhile
She teaches a school
St. John asks her to run away with him and get married like 5 times for the sake of having a good missionary wife
Jane refuses
She shares a vision with Rochester and decides to go back and find him
There was a fire at Thornfield, Bertha died and Rochester is blind
Ferndean
Jane finds Rochester, pretends to be his servant when she first sees him
They get married
Rochester becomes less blind after awhile
St. John is dying
Memorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.
"Reader, I married him"
Jane saying this at the end reveals that she finally has control of some aspect of her life; SHE married HIM, implying it was her choice, not just her submitting to his will
"I am no bird, no net ensnares me"
Jane is searching for freedom and attempting to cast away the idea that women must be repressed
"Self righteousness is not religion"
"Poverty looks grim to grown people; still more so to children: they have not much idea of industrious, working, respectable poverty; they think of the world only as connected with ragged clothes, scanty food, fireless grates, rude manners, and debasing vices: poverty for me was synonymous with degradation."
Jane would refuse to live with poor relatives who were loving because the Reeds have taught her that poverty implies immorality and unpleasantness and she would rather have shame and repression of passion than immoral poor parents.
Describe the significance of the opening scene.
The novel starts off with an extensive discussion of the weather being dreary and gloomy, which reflects the tone of the opening scene and Jane's depression. Jane is mistreated by her adopted family as she is plain and short. Her aunt will not let her stay in the room with her children, so Jane is sent away and she begins to read a book about birds. Her fascination with birds shows her desire for freedom. As she sits against the window, looking out, separated from the world, it shows her place as an observer. In her window seat, she is surrounded by red drapes which symbolize her passionate behavior that disconnects her from her family and makes her aunt dislike her. Jane's character is set up to be an unconventional questing hero; she is not male, not pretty, not tall, so she goes against the typical archival main character in stories during this time. During her reading, she looks at all of the places she would like to travel and see. Irony: she feels alone but is in a large household surrounded by family.
Describe the significance of the closing scene.
"Reader, I married him" This quote is used to open the closing scene, and the pronouns represent the change in the structure of power in their relationship. If she said "He married me" It would imply that he was the one with the choice who decided that they would wed and gave him all of the power. Her saying she married him is a representation of her newfound equality and independence in the relationship that she got from leaving him and living her own life for awhile.
The fact that Bronte closes with the contrasting ending between Jane and Rochester's marriage and miraculous revival of sight and happiness with St. John's way of strict morality causing him happiness and impending death shows the difference in the views on religion that Jane chose to accept as her own. Throughout the novel, Jane was experiencing a coming of age and choosing the religious path she wanted to follow based on those around her. She encountered Helen' s self sacrificing servitude which she admired but ultimately rejected, and the hypocritical beliefs of Mr. Brocklehurst as he claimed to be a follower of God while neglecting the school girls. Jane had to go through and meet all of these people in order to ultimately form her own views on religion, ending with her happiness with Rochester and the miracle of his semi returning sight.
Describe the author's style and provide examples from the text.
She breaks the fourth wall a few times when Jane will say "Dear Reader" as though she is talking to us but she still maintains the feeling of the story. It is like the governess is telling us the story
Gothic elements, a lot of emphasis on the supernatural, beginning with the Red Room and ending with the shared vision Jane and Rochester have.
Juxtaposing images such as fire and ice
Defined Christian elements with the introduction of Helen as a Christ figure, but then there is also debate about whether is actually maintains the Christian morality throughout the novel
The relationship between nature and emotional tone as the nature mimics the themes of the novel.
List importance characters and their significance.
Jane: The main character in the novel who we follow from early childhood to marriage, she is in a continuous battle to overcome the adversities placed upon women in the time period.
Mrs. Reed: Mrs. Reed creates an environment of repression for Jane early on, she doesn't approve of Jane's passionate nature and sees her as lesser due to her parents' social standing.
Helen: Jane's friend at school, she represents one view of religion that Jane must encounter along her journey to discover her own views on faith. Helen has a submissive view of religion that makes her meek and rarely speaks up, and while Jane admires her for the sacrifice and acceptance of misery, she has too much passion to follow this view herself.
Mrs. Temple: Jane's first mentor, Miss Temple allows her the first opportunity to be accepted and loved by someone. Miss Temple goes against the norm at Lowood by trying to treat the students well despite Brocklehursts' abuse.
Mr. Brockelhurst: A representation of the hypocrisy of extreme religion, he expects the students to be modest, submissive and he treats them horribly while his own family is endowed with lavish clothes and hairstyles.
Adele: Jane's charge, Adele is seen as the typical troublesome French and she needs Jane to teach her to be more desireble English woman.
Rochester:
Bertha: Bertha is a symbol of what Jane would have been had she not left Thornfield and been able to control and change her passionate nature and overcome the limitations set on women of her stature in society.
St. John: A symbol of the strictness of morality and religion, he follows a fulfilling and spiritual path that Jane respects but she does not believe his path is correct for her.
List important symbols from the work and their significance
Books: Books symbolize Jane's desire for education and growth that is unusual for someone in her place/station.
Birds: Birds symbolize freedom and Jane's desire for freedom from the restrictions placed upon her due to her class
Paintings: Jane's paintings represent her desires and true feelings about herself; she paints portraits as a way of expression of emotion and a way to discover emotion such as when she painted the portrait of St. Johns' love to gauge his emotions.
Fire: Fire involves the ideas of passion while ice represents the opposing force of Reason, and the constant juxtaposition between these forces symbolizes Jane's internal conflict about which path to take; the one of passion or reason.
Windows: Cue my ENTIRE research paper :) Bronte uses windows in Jane Eyre as a dual symbol that represents both a place of safety, isolation, and observation, as well as a symbol for transition and maturation. The windows show her inherent separation due to her station as well as a physical representation of the boundaries Jane endeavors to break in her life; as she travels through the different houses, windows reveal her desires for the future and signal when she will move on.
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Date of Publication: 1847
Literary Period: Victorian
Genre: Coming of age novel
Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting.
The setting is a series of houses in Victorian England. Each house is important because it represents a portion of her life and something she overcomes and decides. Her leaving each house and moving on signifies her decision to begin another part of her life in this coming of age story.
Themes (These statements should be complete sentences and completely developed ideas)
CLASS: Jane is taught as a child that poverty and immorality are one and the same, yet as she matures, she realizes that rather than class defining a person’s character, the person’s intellect and kindness defines them. Often in Jane Eyre, the higher the class, the lower the character.
GENDER: In her novel, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte reveals that the gender relationship is unfairly weighted in favor of males through Rochester’s relationships, treatment of women, and the lack of repercussions he faced as a result of them.
RELIGION: Bronte characterizes Jane’s identity quest in the context of seeking religious maturity. Supernatural elements and religious allusions help her wrangle with the balance and conflict between mysticism and earthly pleasures, as Bronte ultimately concludes that both pursuit of moderate earthly pleasure and total religious surrender can lead to spiritual contentment.
Plot Summary (Please do not copy and paste. Simply list the high points of the novel) - Consider creating a visual flow chart or graph and posting it here. (Beginning, Middle, End)
We start at Gateshead, the Reed's home
- Jane is abused by her cousins and her aunt
- She is locked in the Red room and has a mysterious encounter with ghostlike feelings and her aunt won't let her out
- They think she's gonna die for a little while
- They arrange for her to be sent to Lowood
Lowood Experience- She meets Helen, the Christ figure character who embodies Jane's morals
- She meets Mrs Temple, and witnesses Brocklehurts' hypocrisy in making them remain modest and unfed while his family is covered in glitters and elaborate hairstyles.
- The majority of the school gets sick from lack of nourishment and clothing
- Helen gets sick and dies with Jane in her crib and Jane wakes up next to a dead Helen
- The school goes under remission following the horrible illness and the realization that these children are being malnourished.
- The school becomes a good place, Jane becomes a teacher herself until she decides she needs to see more and puts out an ad to become a tutor
Thornfield- Jane gets accepted as a tutor for a girl, Adele. She goes to the mansion and finds it not overly extravagant so she feels comfortable in the understated wealth.
- Mrs. Fairfax is a nice lady yay
- Jane is haunted by Grace Poole's laughter and the mysterious happenings around the house
- The crazy lady hidden in the attic set Mr. Rochester on fire and Jane saved him by flooding his bed with water
- Rochester leaves for a bit before coming back with a bunch of wealthy ladies to make Jane jealous
- He dresses up as a gypsy and tries to get Jane to reveal that she loves him
- Jane goes back to Gateshead to visit Mrs. Reed who is dying, and Mrs. Reed tells her that she has a living uncle who actually likes her
- Her cousins have not gone well
- When she comes back, Rochester proposes
- She says yes, the start to get married but they find out Rochester has a wife
- Jane runs away from Thornfield because she will not live in sin
Moor House- Jane meets St. John and his very sweet sisters
- They accept her into their home after a small conflict and St. John says he wants to keep her for his sisters as a pet
- She stays with them for awhile
- She teaches a school
- St. John asks her to run away with him and get married like 5 times for the sake of having a good missionary wife
- Jane refuses
- She shares a vision with Rochester and decides to go back and find him
- There was a fire at Thornfield, Bertha died and Rochester is blind
FerndeanMemorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.
Describe the significance of the opening scene.
The novel starts off with an extensive discussion of the weather being dreary and gloomy, which reflects the tone of the opening scene and Jane's depression. Jane is mistreated by her adopted family as she is plain and short. Her aunt will not let her stay in the room with her children, so Jane is sent away and she begins to read a book about birds. Her fascination with birds shows her desire for freedom. As she sits against the window, looking out, separated from the world, it shows her place as an observer. In her window seat, she is surrounded by red drapes which symbolize her passionate behavior that disconnects her from her family and makes her aunt dislike her. Jane's character is set up to be an unconventional questing hero; she is not male, not pretty, not tall, so she goes against the typical archival main character in stories during this time. During her reading, she looks at all of the places she would like to travel and see. Irony: she feels alone but is in a large household surrounded by family.
Describe the significance of the closing scene.
Describe the author's style and provide examples from the text.
List importance characters and their significance.
List important symbols from the work and their significance
Books: Books symbolize Jane's desire for education and growth that is unusual for someone in her place/station.
Birds: Birds symbolize freedom and Jane's desire for freedom from the restrictions placed upon her due to her class
Paintings: Jane's paintings represent her desires and true feelings about herself; she paints portraits as a way of expression of emotion and a way to discover emotion such as when she painted the portrait of St. Johns' love to gauge his emotions.
Fire: Fire involves the ideas of passion while ice represents the opposing force of Reason, and the constant juxtaposition between these forces symbolizes Jane's internal conflict about which path to take; the one of passion or reason.
Windows: Cue my ENTIRE research paper :) Bronte uses windows in Jane Eyre as a dual symbol that represents both a place of safety, isolation, and observation, as well as a symbol for transition and maturation. The windows show her inherent separation due to her station as well as a physical representation of the boundaries Jane endeavors to break in her life; as she travels through the different houses, windows reveal her desires for the future and signal when she will move on.